Sheet feeding mechanism



y' 1932- A G, COGSWELL 1,866,453

SHEET FEEDING MECHANISM Original Filed July 21., "1928 2 Sheets-Sheet. l

INVENTUR M ATTORNEYS July 5,1932. G. COGSW-ELL 1,866,453

I Y SHEET FEEDING MECHANISM Original Filed July 21, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS sheets.

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Patented July 5, 1932 ALEXANDER eonnonooeswnnn or CHIPPING soniannY, ENGLAND SHEET FEEDING MECHANISM Original application filed July 21, 1928', Serial No. 294,495, and'in Great Britain August 3, 1927. Divided and this application filed September 21, 1929. Serial No. 394,274,

This application is a division of my application Serial No. 294,495 filed 21st July, 1928.

This invention relates to improvements in mechanism for feeding sheets from a pile of According to the present invention, sheet feeding mechanism comprises a sheet gripping device, means for angularly moving said device in the plane of the sheets to twist the upper sheet slightly and thereby to separate it from the pile of sheets, and means for moving said gripping device away from said ile. p Preferably means are provided for adjusting the amount of angular movement of the gripping device or for preventing said movement.

The means may combine a projection or cam carried by an arm supporting the gripping device, and means for moving said projection or cam more or less into or out of the path of a cam adapted to move said arm and hence the gripping device.

Preferably the sheet gripping device comprises a pneumatic sucker.

In the accompanying drawings which illus trate the invention, Figure 1 is a plan, Figures 2 and 3 sectional end elevations, and Figure 4 a perspective View, and Figure 5 is a fragmentary detail perspective view on an enlarged scale of a means for angularly moving a sheet engaging sucker in the plane of the sheet in adjustable degree.

In the drawings, apparatus constructed ac cording to the present invention is shown applied to apparatus which is fully described in my co-pending application Serial No. 294,495 and which will therefore only briefly be referred to herein.

1 is the frame of the machine upon which is slidably mounted a magazine base 2 having a lip 3, and 4 is the side of the magazine which is curved and is slidably mounted on the base 2, a locking screw 5 being provided to lock the side 4 in any desired position, and .a clip 6 carried by a sheet positioning abutment 6, being provided normally to retain the paper in the magazine. 7 v

7 is rubber sucker Which is adapted to engage the surface of the top sheet of paper located within the magazine 2, 4,

The apparatus above referred to is fully described in my co-pending application Serial No. 294,495.

The sucker 7 is carried by a spring-controlled arm 8, pivotally and slidably mounted in bearings 9.- Fast with the arm 8 are brackets 10, in which is rotatably mounted a spindle 11 whose axis is normal to the plane of the sheets and which is provided with avcam 12 adapted to be engaged by a cam 13 fast witha main shaft 14 adapted to be rotated by a handle 15. Also secured to the spindle 11 is a disc 16 having serrations 17 engaged by a spring-urged pawl 18, pivotally mounted on the upper of the brackets 10. The lower of the brackets is adapted to be engaged by a cam 19 also fast with the shaft 14. The sucker 7 is in communication, through a flexible pipe 20, with bellows 21, the upper plate 22, of which is pivoted at 23 and to which is pivotally connected one end of a link 24, the other end of which is connected to a slidably mountedrod 25 having a block 26 adapted to be'engaged by a lug 27 on the cam 19, a spring 28'being provided tending to open the belows. 1

In operation, when the handle 15 rou tated, the sucker 7 is lowered by the cam 19 into contact with the top sheet, the lug 27 allows the bellows to be expanded by the spring 28, and the arm 8 is rocked in a plane parallel with the plane of'the sheets, the top sheet of paper being held in contact with the sucker.

7 by vacuum'created by theexpansion of the bellows. The top sheet is thus separated from the next sheet by the movement imparted to the sheet in its own plane by the rocking movement of the arm 8, and separated from the next sheet, and the forward corner of the top sheet is moved from below the clip 6. "Continued operation of the handle 15 causes the cam'19 to lift the arm 8 and with it the sucker 7, the top sheet thereb being lifted from the next lower sheet. I

The extent to which the arm 8-is rocked I can be varied by releasing .the pawl 18 from the disc 16, rotating the cam 12 more or less into or out of the path of the cam 13, and

then allowing the pawl 18 to re-engage the serrations 17 on the disc. Obviously the cam 12 may completely be moved out of the path of the cam 13, in which case no move ment would be imparted to the sucker in the plane of the sheet. Since the sucker 7 is mounted for angular swinging movements in the plane of the top sheet of the pile, the amount of movement necessary to efiect an adequateseparation of the top sheet from the sheet next below is obtainable, and as described above the amount of swinging movement can be adjusted by means of the pawl 18 and the disc 16.

The top sheet, after having been lifted by the sucker 7', may be moved to the folding mechanism fully described in my said c0- pending application Serial No. 2%,495, by a gripper 29.

IVhat I claim is 1. In apparatus for delivering sheets of material from a pile of sheets, the combination of a sheet gripping device mounted on an axis normal to the plane of the sheets for angular swinging movement in the plane of the sheets, means for angularly moving said device in the plane of the sheets, and means for moving said device away from the pile of sheets.

2. In apparatus for delivering sheets of material from a pile of sheets, the combination of a pneumatic sucker mounted on an axis normal to the plane of the sheets, means for angularly moving said sucker in the plane of the sheets, and means for moving said sucker away from the pile of sheets.

3. In apparatus for delivering sheets of material from a pile of sheets, the combination of a sheet gripping device, means for angularly moving said device in the plane of the sheets, means for moving said device away from the pile of sheets, and means for controlling the angular movement of said gripping device.

4. In apparatus for delivering sheets of material from a pile of sheets, the combination of a pneumatic sucker, means for angularly moving said sucker in the plane of the sheets, means for moving said sucker away from the pile of sheets, and'means for controlling the angular movement of said pneumatic sucker.

5. In apparatus for delivering sheets of material from a pile of sheets, the combination of an arm, a pneumatic sucker carried thereby, a projection in operative connection with the arm, a cam adapted to engage the projection to move the sucker angularly'in the plane of the sheets, means for adjusting the projection more or less into the path of the cam to effect an adjustment of the extent of angular movement of the sucker, and means for moving the sucker away from the pile.

6. In apparatus for delivering sheets of material from a pile of sheets, the combination of an arm, a pneumatic sucker carried thereby, a shaft, a cam on the shaft for moving the sucker angularly in the plane of the sheets, a second cam on the shaft for moving the sucker away from the pile of sheets, a bellows in communication with the sucker, a third cam on the shaft for actuating the bellows to produce a suction at the sucker, and means for rotating the shaft.

7 In apparatus for delivering sheets of material from a pile of sheets, the combination of an arm, a pneumatic sucker carried thereby, a projection in operative connection with the arm, a shaft, a cam on the shaft adapted to engage the projection to move the sucker angularly in the plane of the sheets, means for adjusting the projection more or less into the path of the cam to effect an adjustment of the extent of angular movement of the sucker, a second cam on the shaft for moving the sucker away from the pile of sheets, a bellows in communication with the sucker, a third cam on the shaft for actuating the bellows to produce a suction at the sucker, and means for rotating the shaft.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signed my name this 3rd day of September, 1929.

ALEXANDER GORDON COGSWELL. 

